Chapter 4

Lois awoke three hours later in a dark room in what appeared to be a warehouse. She was tied to a chair and her feet were touching hard floor. There were shelves and bins all around her.

She then realized that she was alone. She tried to break the ropes free but she did not succeed. All that resulted was the painful chafing of her skin. The sweat began pouring down her face from a combination of stress, physical activity, and lack of air conditioning. At her wits end, she put her head down and hoped that someone would come.

Then a thought occurred to her. She only hoped that one person would come. And it was so bizarre to her. Why am I hoping that Clark Kent will come and rescue me? I mean, sure, he's always been there for me in the past. But I am the type of girl who has never depended on a man, not even her own father.

She then decided that sitting around thinking about Clark would not help her. So she yelled out "Help!" four times before the door opened and someone said, "No one will be able to hear you."

It was the masked figure that had grabbed Lois and drove off in her car. "There is no one around for miles," he continued.

He turned the light on and Lois could see everything in the room more clearly. It appeared to be a sort of shrine to Lex. There were papers that contained his whereabouts and personal information on him. There were candid photos of him that appeared to have been taken by a stalker of some sort. Lois shifted into investigative reporter mode and put it all together.

"You shot Lex," she said simply, trying to hide the fear that was rapidly radiating inside of her.

The man slowly approached her. "Yes. I brought you here because I knew you would be hot on my trail eventually. I overheard you and your friends talking and I figured I had to silence you all." He was now beginning to pace the room.

Lois stared at him. There was something familiar about this man, but she just couldn't figure out what it was. "Who are you?" she asked.

"O, you know who I am," he replied with a small, cold laugh.

She must have had a sort of blank look on her face because he asked, "You really don't know?"

Lois tried to think of all that she had remembered from her attack. She couldn't see his face, but she remembered his scent. She had smelled it before. It was musky and she remembered it because she had compared it to Clark's scent. "Curtis" she said aloud, sorting it all out.

The masked man laughed a little and took off his mask. Indeed, it was Curtis. "What gave it away?" he asked.

"Your smell. It's really bad and I remember noticing it at work."

Curtis seemed to have taken no offense to this.

"How long have I been here?" She also had no clue what time it was, seeing how she could not get to her watch.

"Only a few hours, be patient," her captor replied. "You're going to be here a long time."

That night Clark sat on the couch of his farm, restless. Chloe's words had been ringing through his head since he last left her. Should he talk to Lois about how he felt? Would she return the feelings? And even if so, what about his big secret? Could he tell her? How would Lois handle it if he did? And if he didn't, would she be upset if she found out some other way? Probably, he answered himself. Look at Oliver.

More and more questions kept spilling into his head over the next few minutes. Then the sound of his cell phone ringing finally broke his concentration. Who would be calling me at this hour? He thought to himself. Worriedly, he picked up. He heard Chloe's voice on the other line, panicking.

"Chloe? What's wrong?" he asked her frantically. He hoped it wasn't Lois.

"Clark, it's Lois." Clark's heart skipped a beat. "Her car was found abandoned in the woods near the interstate. Someone saw her grabbed and called the police. They followed him but lost him and later caught up, but it was too late. They already left her car. Her cell phone dropped and she had my number down for emergencies. No body could see the face of the man who grabbed her." Her voice broke more and more as she spoke each word.

Clark couldn't speak. He just hung up. Chloe was surprised at first when she heard the dial tone, but then she felt a gust of wind behind her and knew the reason. "Hey," she said as she turned around. Her face was tearstained, but it was nothing compared to Clark's expression. She gasped in horror.

It was a look of panic, anger, and fear, all rolled into one. His eyes were cold and narrow. His brows conveyed a tense feeling. The rest of his features made him look as though he wanted to burst out of all the hurt that he was feeling. She had never seen him like this before. Boy, she thought to herself, I would hate to be the guy who is on the receiving end of that.

"Clark, are you okay?" she asked hesitantly after a few moments. He stood frozen in place.

"It's a sign," he said. He didn't look at her.

"A sign? What do you mean, Clark?" she asked him, looking perplexed.

"I was hoping for a sign to help me sort out the whole situation with Lois, and I think this is it. Chloe, we gotta find her." His voice was desperate and pained.

"Don't worry Clark, we will. Jimmy is on his way. He, unfortunately, can not break the sound barrier going from place to place."

"Do you think whoever has her shot Lex?" Clark asked, nerves wracking at his insides.

"That's my theory," Chloe responded, trying to stay calm.

A couple of moments passed by. During that time Clark was in pure agony. He can't believe he was feeling this way over Lois. Sure, they were friends, but this went beyond that.

"Look, I can probably find her in a fraction of the time that you two can. I'll meet you at the spot where her car was abandoned and I will keep you posted," Clark said anxiously.

"Sure thing," Chloe agreed. And with that another gust of wind swept in front of her and Clark was gone.

"So how did you pull it off?" Lois asked Curtis.

Curtis, without saying a word, disappeared into thin air. Then Lois saw a puddle of ink on the ground. A couple of seconds later Curtis suddenly rematerialized. Lois was shocked, to say the least.

"So that explains the ink on the floor at the Luthor mansion. And on your hand and shirt at work. And the puddle I stepped in on the way to my car." Lois was suddenly putting it all together. "How do you do it?"

"It started the day of the first meteor shower. Even as a child I was an aspiring writer. I had my pen in my hand when some meteor rocks flew through my window. Next thing I knew my hand was liquidating into ink. I've been able to do it ever since."

"Okay. Next question is, why would you want to shoot Lex?"

Curtis chuckled lightly. "Wow, you are a thorough reporter, aren't you? Well, I had asked Lex to give me a recommendation for a job in New York. It has always been my dream to go there to write for a newspaper. But he said no. I was mad at him for taking away my chance." He paced around the room in anger before continuing, making Lois terrified. "I knew you and your friends were the ones following the case the closest. I knew it was only a matter of time before you were on my trail. So now I need to make sure that you don't say a word."

"Oh, so you're going to kill me, are you?" Lois tried to sound brave, but inside she was petrified.

Curtis chuckled his creepy small laugh again. "No, that would be too easy. I'm just going to threaten them with your life. Make sure that they don't squeal if they know what's good for you." He started to stroke her hair lightly. "I really am sorry, you know. I was starting to like you."

Lois flinched away from his touch. "Clark won't let you get away with this."

Curtis flinched at the name. "You know, I never did like him. He always gave me odd looks when I would talk to you. I think he was a bit jealous. I believe he has feelings for you." His tone became mocking.

Lois contemplated this. She had never really thought much about how Clark reacted to her spending time with Curtis. And now she could kick herself for it. Why is it that is always obvious that someone has feelings for someone to everyone except the receiver of the feelings?

"So," Curtis said, breaking the silence after a minute, "how about it. Do you have feelings for Clark?"

Lois just stared at the floor. She could not respond. She was afraid what Curtis would do if she said the right answer, and if she lied he might see right through it. She did not know what to do.

Apparently, stumbling across the answer was all Curtis had to hear, or in this case not hear. "Ah, I knew it. You do. This should make this much more interesting." As he said these last words the blood flowing in Lois's veins froze.

Clark sped up to woods that were near the interstate. Her car was naturally towed away by the police and was being searched for evidence. Clark examined the trail. He figured if the police had found footsteps, they would have followed them. But Chloe had not informed him of such action. So he decided to use one of the many advantages that he had over the authorities and x-rayed the surroundings. He found, buried deep under the dirt and twigs, something that the police must have missed. He picked it up, and it was a silver pendant in the shape of an L on a broken chain. Lois's necklace. Clark's heart gave a leap in relief as he raced up the trail. She must be near he thought. She has to be. As he sped faster and faster along the path he saw some buildings. He approached them closer and realized they were empty warehouses. He x-rayed them all and in one he saw two skeletons. One was sitting tied to a chair and the other was hovering over the other. Clark's heart leapt into his throat as he headed toward the building.

"So, how can I have your precious Clark beg for your life?" Curtis said before he let out a menacing laugh.

"Like I said before, Curtis, Clark won't let you get away with this," Lois said with as much strength as she could muster.

Curtis laughed yet again. "Oh, but he will when he sees you are at stake." He sighed heavily, seeming to breathe in his victory. "This is turning out better then I had imagined."

As if on cue, Clark came storming in. Lois's heart leapt when she saw him. She could not believe how strong her feelings had grown for him ever since they had been trying to track down Lex's shooter. She only hoped he felt the same about her.

Curtis broke into her thoughts. "Well, hello Clark. Nice of you to join us. We were just talking about you."

Clark felt a surge of anger flow through him as he saw who spoke to him. "Curtis," he said. "It was you. Why are you doing this?"

"Well, like I was telling Lois, I knew it was only a matter of time before your little group knew the thruth."

"The truth? Did you shoot Lex?" Clark asked, finally being able to think rationally.

"Nothing gets by you, does it?" Curtis replied harshly.

Lois proceeded to tell Clark what Curtis had told her. Curtis provided evidence by showing Clark his ability.

"What do you want?" Clark asked fiercely.

"Oh, it's simple really. I just want you to never tell anyone the truth. That way you guys walk out of here alive and I get away with what I did. So, you see, it's a win-win situation."

"And if we don't keep your secret?" Clark asked, his voice powerful and never breaking. It amazed Lois how strong he could be.

"Well, then I will just have to blow Lois's pretty little head off, then," Curtis replied as he pulled out a gun at pointed it to Lois's head.

A slight panic filled Clark as Curtis uttered these words. He could not let anything happen to Lois. "You don't have to do this, Curtis. No one has to get hurt." He spoke with such finality that Curtis was a little taken aback. Nevertheless, he was going to win. He continued to hold the gun to Lois's head.

"Well, what else do you propose then?" he said in a condescending tone.

"We can figure a way to get you out of here. That way everyone can get out safe." Of course, he was bluffing. But he couldn't let Curtis know that.

Curtis stared at him in disbelief. "You would do that?"

"I just don't want to see anyone get hurt." Lois stared at him in awe as he spoke. How can he be so calm and clever?

Curtis, however, wasn't fooled like they had hoped. "You mean, you just don't want to see your girlfriend here get hurt. I saw the way you would look at me when I would talk to her. And she admitted earlier that she has feelings for you too." Lois and Clark looked at each other, both slightly embarrassed.

"Well, you two aren't going anywhere," Curtis continued. "You aren't really going to let me walk out of here. You would go straight to the cops, and I can't have that." He jammed the gun deeper into Lois's cranium, causing her to let out a small but terrifying scream.

"Curtis, put the gun down," he said calmly.

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you? But you see, I'm not one to really take orders, Clark. That's another reason I hate Lex."

A moment went by in silence. Then Curtis fiddled with the gun as though he was about to pull the trigger.

"So, what's it gonna be, Clark? Do I refrain from shooting Lois in exchange for your silence? Or do you want to play hero by running to the cops? But remember, if you chose option 1 and fail to keep up your end of the bargain, I know where to find you, and I can crawl through small spaces easily."

Clark did not need any time to ponder this. "Don't shoot," he said in a hard tone.

"Fair enough," Curtis said, pulling the gun away from Lois. "Now, don't even think about leaving town." He made to leave, showing no interest in untying Lois. As he was about to touch the door handle, Clark used his heat vision to burn it up. Curtis let out a scream and while he was distracted and unaware, Clark knocked him unconscious. Lois was preoccupied with attempting to untie herself, so she did not see Clark use his heat vision.

Clark then pulled his cell phone from his pocket and, with luck on his side, there was a signal. He called the police and then Chloe, who was still waiting with Jimmy in the woods.

"Clark," Lois said, trying to get his attention on the fact that she was still tied up.

"Oh. Sorry," he said absentmindedly as he proceeded to unite the ropes. All he could think about was what Curtis has said. Lois admitted she has feelings for him? Then again, who knew if anything Curtis said could be taken as truth. He may have just been trying to tug at his heartstrings. And with Lois having a gun to her head, she was not going to disagree with him.

Apparently Lois had the same thought on her mind. "Can you believe it?" She said, rising from the chair. She laughed a little at herself. "My luck with guys. And can you believe what he made up about me having feelings for you?"

Clark looked at her with a hurt look on his face. Lois hated when he did that. It made him look like a kicked puppy. "What's wrong?" she asked him sincerely.

"Nothing. I know Curtis was probably saying that stuff to get to me, but, I um…." the volume of his voice decreased "….I was kind of hoping that maybe he wasn't." He quickly looked down at the floor.

"What?" Lois said, though she heard him. She just couldn't believe what she heard. "Well, I just thought, giving my past romantic history, that it couldn't be possible."

"What do you mean?" Clark said, his head rising slightly, but his eyes were still on the ground. "I came up here to find you didn't I? And, ask Chloe, I thought I was going crazy when she told me what happened. So how can you say that?" He could not believe the sharp pang that was going through his stomach. He wanted to crumble into a million pieces.

Lois felt bad. She had never meant to hurt him. "Clark, I'm so sorry. I never meant to offend you. I just meant that you are probably the best man that I know. And I didn't think it would be possible for someone like you to like me. Especially since you are still getting over Lana."

Clark looked up at her. "Lana who?" He said playfully. They smiled at each other.

"Look, Clark," Lois said after a little bit, "I don't care who you are or what you do. You could be an alien for all I care, I just.." she saw the shocked look on Clark's face. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Clark said immediately. He couldn't believe he had reacted that impulsively. "There's just some things you don't know about me."

"We all have our secrets, Clark. And I know yours can't be bad enough to make me never speak to you again." She smiled at him and he felt his heart flutter. It was amazing to him that even though he was as strong as steel, some people still managed to break through.

He still had his face toward the ground when he felt Lois pull his chin up.

Their faces were inches apart. Lois's scent of vanilla and honey was wafting in front of Clark's face. He had to shift back into focus.

"We'd better get back to Jimmy and Chloe," he said after a moment.

"Don't worry," she said softly, "they'll be fine."

Their faces leaned in closer. Lois noticed Clark's scent also, sweet and relieving. Then their lips met and they were both pulled into the most passionate kiss that either of them had ever had.